nomadreader

The backstory: I've adored Jacqueline Woodson's books for kids and young adults for many years, and when I heard she had a novel for adults coming out this summer, I squealed. Seeing Jacqueline Woodson speak at ALA in June was one of the highlights of the conference for me (picture below.) She spoke at the same time as John Lewis, and I debated which one to go see. I chose Woodson because I haven't seen her speak before. I was lucky enough to have John Lewis as my Congressional Representative for many years, and I (not foolishly I hope) expect I'll have other chances to hear him speak again. The basics: Another Brooklyn  is the story of August and her memories of growing up in Brooklyn in the 1970's and 1980's. My thoughts: Another Brooklyn  captivated me from the first page. There is a sparseness to Woodson's prose in this novel that is poetic. I savored this book and hung on every single word. It's easy to do, as much of the novel is told in vign...

T he backstory: A Crime in the Neighborhood  won the Orange Prize in 1999. It was Suzanne Berne's first novel. The basics: The novel begins with the murder of a young boy in a wooded area by a mall in Washington, D.C. in 1972. Then Berne steps back from this tragedy and shifts the tone and focus: we enter the lives of the Eberhardt family through the eyes and voice of 10-year-old Marsha. My thoughts: Marsha is an interesting child narrator. As the book continues, it becomes clear Marsha is narrating from the present time (the events are in the 1970's), but this foreshadowing (future-shadowing?) is minimal. As the reader is put into the crumbling marriage and ensuing family drama of the Eberhardts, the death of Boyd Ellison takes a different turn. The first chapter of this novel felt like a crime novel (and I enjoy crime novels), but the abrupt shift to Marsha talking about Boyd in the context of her interactions with him (now containing more significance) and a highly emot...